The technique of "paralleling" in dental radiology has been shown to be a superior technique which yields low distortion exposures if the film packet can be adequately placed in the patient's oral cavity. However, it is well-known that achieving proper radiographic exposures, especially using this technique, results in a great degree of patient discomfort. Patients often experience intense pain created by the sharp edges of the radiographic film packet when it is pressed tightly against intraoral tissues in order to achieve a proper exposure.
This problem has been recognized by many in the field of dental radiographic science as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,216 to Strong-Grainger which provides an extensive discussion of this problem and the prior art. The Strong-Grainger solution to this problem is to include additional padding around the edges of the normal X-ray film packet. The padding completely covers the sharp, heat-sealed edge of the most commonly used plastic jacket-type radiographic film packet and is reported to increase patient comfort during radiographic examination. This padding, however, greatly increases the bulk and dimension of the film packet and therefore it does not present the opportunity for best use and greatest spatial coverage of the X-ray film. The present design represents an improvement in the art in order to achieve greater patient comfort during X-ray examination without limiting the X-ray procedure.